Adam Silver is an American lawyer and sports executive who serves as the NBA’s fifth and current commissioner (NBA). He enlisted himself in the NBA in 1992 and has held numerous positions inside the league, eventually rising to the position of chief operating officer and deputy commissioner under his predecessor and mentor,
During Silver’s reign, the league expanded monetarily and globally, particularly in China. Silver gained waves in 2014 when he forced Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers after Sterling made racist remarks, eventually excluding him from all NBA games and events for life.
Adam Silver- Early Life and Family
Silver grew up in a Jewish-American home. His father, Edward Silver (1921-2004), was a labor law specialist and senior partner at the legal firm Proskauer Rose. Silver grew raised in Rye, New York, a northern Westchester County suburb of New York City. He completed his graduation from Rye High School in 1980. Silver attended Duke University after graduating from high school. He was a part of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1984. 
He served as a legislative aide to Les AuCoin, a member of the United States House of Representatives. from 1984 to 1985. Silver then attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he earned his J.D. Degree in 1988. He is married to interior designer Maggie Grise in 2015. The couple has two children, who were born in April 2017 and May 2020, respectively.
Adam Silver Career Life
Silver in NBA
Silver first joined the NBA in 1992 as Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, a position he held for eight years. He was involved in ventures such as negotiating the league’s last three collective bargaining agreements with the National Basketball Players Association, developing the WNBA league, developing the NBA Development League, creating NBA China and partnering with Turner Broadcasting to manage the NBA’s digital assets.
Adam Silver has also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NBA Entertainment, NBA Chief of Staff, and Special Assistant to the Commissioner. Did silver work as an executive producer for NBA Entertainment on the IMAX film Michael Jordan to the Max and the documentary Whatever Happened to Michael Ray? He also helped with Like Mike and The Year of the Yao’s production. When David Stern (the NBA Commissioner at the time) announced his resignation from the job on February 1, 2014, he endorsed Silver to be the next NBA Commissioner.
Adam Silver’s stance on various NBA Controversies
Donald Sterling’s racist comments
Adam Silver faced his first big test as league commissioner in late April 2014, when he was forced to deal with racial remarks made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Sterling was recorded making overtly offensive remarks to his girlfriend. Within a few days of the tapes being made public, Silver and the NBA declared that Sterling would be barred from all NBA events for the rest of his life. Sterling has been barred from entering any Clippers facility or attending any NBA games. Silver authored an op-ed post in The New York Times on November 13, 2014, in which he stated his support for legalized and regulated sports betting, stating that it should be “taken out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be effectively monitored and regulated.” Silver and the NBA have also stated that they will do everything possible to force him to sell the team. This was one of the harshest penalties ever imposed on a professional sports team owner.
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Daryl Morey’s Tweet
Other major situations Silver has addressed as commissioner include Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s 2019 tweet supporting the 2019 Hong Kong demonstrations. The post sparked political debate as well as questions about China’s relationship with the NBA. China replied angrily to Morey’s post, indicating that they may decide to terminate connections with the NBA. Silver, on the other hand, defended Morey, claiming that he had the right to express himself and free speech. Morey later took down the tweet. Morey and the NBA made separate statements on October 6 in response to the original tweet; Morey stated that he never intended his message to cause offense, while the NBA stated that the tweet was “regrettable.”
The words received attention and bipartisan condemnation from various US leaders. On October 7, Adam Silver justified the league’s approach to the tweet, defending Morey’s right to free expression but also respecting the right of response from the Chinese government and corporations. Soon after, Silver faced danger due to the NBA’s agreement with China. China reacted negatively, possibly cutting ties with the NBA. “It is inevitable that people around the world—including Americans and Chinese—will have different perspectives on certain subjects,” Silver stated publicly. “It is not the duty of the NBA to resolve those differences.”Vivo, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, has suspended all ties with the NBA in response to Silver’s words.”
COVID 19 Pandemic
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Silver decided to suspend the 2019-20 NBA season on March 11, 2020. On June 4, 2020, it was revealed that the season would resume for 22 of the 30 NBA Bubble clubs, a $170 million commitment to protect the players, coaches, and the season’s success. Silver noted near the end of the regular season that the bubble was “better than what we had envisioned.”
Honors and Accolades
Adam Silver was placed first on the Sports Business Journal’s list of the 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business in 2016. Silver was selected Executive of the Year by Sports Business Journal in 2015. He was also enlisted in one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People and one of Fortune’s 50 Greatest Leaders that same year.
Silver was named Sports Illustrated Executive of the Year in 2014. He is on the Duke University Board of Trustees and received the University of Chicago Law School’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2016. He also serves on the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research’s board of directors.
Adam Silver Net worth and Salary
According to the sources, Adam Silver has a net worth of $40 million and a salary of $10 million per year.
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